Package end sealing mechanism



March 25, 1952 o, SANDBERG 2,590,127

PACKAGE END SEALING MECHANISM March 25, 1952 o. SANDBERG 2,590,127

' PACKAGE END- SEALING MECHANISM Filed July 29, 1946 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2INVENToR. 06' bar ,lfzdby Patented Mar. 25, 1952 PACKAGE END SEALINGMECHANISM Oscar Sandberg,

Defiance, Ohio, assignor to Lynch Corporation, Anderson, Ind., acorporation of Indiana Application July 29, 1946, Serial No. 686,842

My present invention relates to a mechanism for properly sealing theends of round packages o f cookies or the like. A method of wrapping andsealing such packages is disclosed and claimed in my copendingapplication Serial No. 722,149 now abandoned.

One object of the invention is to provide an effective means for turningin and sealing the ends of packages which are wrapped by means of awrapper around round cookies or the like and then folded at the endswith four flaps in the manner disclosed in my opending applicationSerial No. 654,079, led March 13, 1946, now Patent No. 2,567,405,granted September 11, 1951, so as to produce a neat package issuing froma wrapping machine.

Another object is to provide means to closely fold projecting corners ofa wrapper over the ends of a package wrapped in a wrapping machine bymeans of mechanism that rolls the package beneath corner folding angles,thereby producing neat end folds in the completed package.

Still another object is to provide a belt type conveyor and means todeposit wrapped packages thereon, the conveyor being so related to thecorner folding angles that it produces the above mentioned rollingaction.

`A further object is to provide heat for the corner folding angles,transmitted thereto from electric heaters or the like for sealing thecorner folds by the application of heat thereto, the wrapper itselfbeing of such material that its folds will seal with respect to eachother under the application of heat thereto.

Still a further object is to provide corner` folding angles which are somounted that they provide predetermined pressure on the wrapped packageas it rolls under them and likewise predetermined pressure against theends for further producing a neatly folded package from the wrappingmachine.

With these and other objects in view, my inven` tion consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of myde-v vice whereby the objects contemplated are attained, 'as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein: y.

Figurel is a plan view of the discharge end of a wrapping machine of thetype shown in my above mentioned copending application with my cornerfolding and sealing mechanism added thereto.

' Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.

4 Claims. (Cl. 53-149) Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line3-3 of Figure 2 showing the mechanism in normal position.

Figure 4 is a similar View showing the parts in the position that theyassume when a package is being corner-folded and sealed thereby.

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of my corner folding and sealingmechanismas taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 2, and

Figures 6 and 7 are Perspective views of the ends of packages showingthe package respectively before and after the corners are folded downand sealed by my corner folding and sealing mechanism.

On the accompanying drawings I have used reference numerals I0 toindicate stationary rods forming part of the frame of a wrapping machineand extending from the discharge end of the machine. The supporting rodsIU are suitably braced by angular brace rods I3 which extend down to theframe of the machine and carry bearings I2 which support a conveyorshaft I4 corresponding to the shaft |82 in my copending application andwhich in the present case is driven by means of gears I6 and I8. Thegear I8 is secured to a sprocket 20 which in turn is driven by a chain22 from the shaft 34 of my copending application, the direction ofrotation of the sprocket being clockwise. Thus through the gears I6 andI8 the shaft I4 rotates counter-clockwise.

The shaft I4 carries a conveyor sprocket 24 from the packaging machineafter a wrapper has been wrapped around the cookies or other commodityand the ends of the wrapper tucked in for completing the wrapping of thepackage as disclosed in my copending application.

The chain 22 drives a srocket 30 on a shaft 32. The shaft 32 carries twopairs of transfer fingers 34 adapted to engage the packages as they comefrom the conveyor chain 26 and move them across a stationary plate andon to a conveyor belt 38.

The conveyor belt 38 is trained around drums 4B and 42 mounted on shafts44 and 46 and delivers completed packages to a take-away platform 4I.The shaft 44 is driven by a sprocket 48 and a chain 50, the chain alsoextending around a sprocket 52 as best shown in Figure 1. The sprocket52 is secured to the shaft I4.

Another pair of stationary rods 54 extend from the frame ofthe wrappingmachine and a yoke 56 is mounted thereon. The rods 54 are also sup-Iported from the rods I0 by brackets 5I.` The yoke 56 carries a thirdstationary rod 58 adapted to support a pair of angle-shaped cornerfolding and sealing angles 66 and 62. The means of support consists ofan arm 64 for the angle 60 secured rigidly to the rod 58 by means of setscrews 66, and a pair of arms 68 for the angle 62 mounted foroscillatory movement on the rod 58. The arms 68 are confined betweencollars 16.

The arm 64 carries an angle l2 and the arms 68 carry an angle 14.Slidable in the horizontal anges of the angles 'l2 and I4 are verticalrods 16. The lower ends of these rods are attached as by welding to theangles 6U and 62. There are two of the rods 'i6 for each angle 60 and62.

Springs 13 are interposed between the angles 60 and 'l2 and between theangles 62 and 14. These tend to lower the angles 6l] and 62 and thelowering movement is limited by stop collars 80 in the form of nuts thatcan be adjusted on the rods for changing the stop limit.

The arm 64 being stationary and the arms 68 being oscillatably mountedon the rod 58 results in the angle 6B being stationary and the angle 62arranged for floating movement. The angle 62 is biased toward the angle60 by a spring connection 82 between the arm 64 and one of the arms 68and the limit of proximity of the angle 62 to the angle 60 is determinedby a stop screw 84. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the stop screw 84 isthreaded in a perforated ear 86 of the arm 64 for adjustment purposesand the adjustment may be retained by a lock nut 88.

My copending application discloses a wrapping machine for wrapping awrapper around al plurality or stack of round cookies and then tuckingin the ends in such a way Vthat four flaps result. In Figures 6 and '7 Ishow the package (indicated in general at P) thus wrapped and the flapsnumbered in the order that they are folded (I', 2, 3, 4). It will benoted that, due to the round shape of the package, the base corners orfolds of the flaps result in substantially pointed projections of thewrapper indicated at 90.

Aside from being unsightly these projections 90 occur at folded portionsof the wrapper which are not properly sealed by the sealing mechanism ofthe wrapping machine. The machine does however seal the central portionsof the flaps I, 2, 3 and 4 very well. In order to neatly fold down theprojections 96 and accomplish a really complete sealing operation on theentire package and produce a package that is neat, the projections orcorners 90 also should be folded down over the ends of the package andsealed.

This is accomplished in my present mechanism by transferring eachpackage from the conveyor chain 26 to the belt 38 by means of thetransfer fingers 34 which as shown in Figure 1 rotate through slots 35of the horizontal flanges of the angles 6D and 62. These fingers alsoserve to force the packages into position between the angles and undertheir horizontal flanges against the bias of the springs 82 and 18,respectively.

The action that then takes place is a rolling action because the upperstretch of the conveyor belt 38 is travelling to the left in Figure 2whereas the horizontal anges of the angles 60 and 62 are stationary. Thepackages will accordingly be rolled under the angles at half the speedof the belt. The belt itself is supported against sagging by means of astationary supporting plate 39. The pressure of the springs 82 fold thecorners or projections 90 neatly against the ends of the package asshown in Figure 7 and in the order noted (5, 6, 7, 8). At the same timethe springs I8 serve to cause the horizontal flanges to smooth A-out thewrapper around the periphery of the package.

The angles 60 and 62 are provided with electric heaters 6| and 63respectively. These are preferably energized with electric current underthe control of a thermostat (not shown) so as to maintain the angles 60and 62 at a predetermined temperature. The wrapper for the package Pbeing of the type that seals with the application of heat is therebysealed at the corners as these corners are rolled down by passingbetween the vertical flanges of the angles 60 and 62.

The flap of the package where it wraps around the cookies and terminatesas at the line 92 in Figures 6 and 7 is further heat-sealed by thehorizontal flanges of the angles 60 and 62. The angles thereby serve toiron out the wrinkles from the wrapper as well as seal it andparticularly at the projections 90 so that the resulting package is veryneat in appearance and is assuredly sealed percent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of theparts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose ofmy invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may bereasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a folding mechanism for the ends of round packages, a pair ofangle-shaped members, a belt conveyor opposing the horizontal flanges ofsaid angle-shaped members for rolling packages between their verticalflanges which are engageable with the ends of the package, means formaintaining the portion of the belt conveyor opposing the horizontalanges in a Straight line, an initial conveyor for delivering packages tosaid belt conveyor, a rotating shaft provided with ngers for engagingthe packages and transferring them from the initial conveyor to saidbelt conveyor, and means to spring bias said horizontal flanges towardsaid belt conveyor and said vertical fianges toward each other to pressagainst the package during the rolling operation.

2. In a folding and sealing mechanism for the ends of round packages, apair of angle-shaped members, a conveyor opposing the horizontal flangesof said angle-shaped members for rolling packages between the ilanges ofsaid angleshaped members and said conveyor, means for maintaining theportion of the belt conveyor opposing the horizontal flanges in astraight line, an initial conveyor for delivering packages to said firstmentioned conveyor, a rotating shaft provided with fingers for engagingthe packages and transferring them from said initial conveyor to saidfirst mentioned conveyor, means to spring bias said horizontal flangestoward said conveyor and said vertical flanges toward each other and tothereby so engage the p-ackage during the rolling operation that it isrolled between said horizontal flanges and said rst mentioned conveyorand the peripheral corners of the package wrapper are smoothed outthereby, and means to heat said vertical flanges for heat sealing thepackage.

3. A device for use in improving the appearance of a generallycylindrical article having flat end faces and enclosed in a tubularwrapping of heat sealable material having its ends folded over saidarticle end faces in the form of inwardly directed overlapping sealedflaps, said wrapping having projections at the base corners of saidilaps and having wrinkles at the ends of the tubular wrapping portion.said device comprising a .conveyor for displacing said article along atransverse axis thereof, a heating element along each side of said'conveyor each including an elongate heat transmitting member of L-shaped cross sectional form each having a first leg extending over`said conveyor and spaced therefrom and a second leg extendingtransversely toward an edge of said conveyor, said conveyor functioningto effect rolling Contact of the ends of said tubular wrapping with'saidfirst legs and sweeping contact of said folded wrapping ends, rst meansresiliently urging one of said heating elements toward the other heatingelement, second means resiliently urging both heating elements towardsaid conveyor, and a rigid member supportingv said conveyor againstyielding under the influence of force transmitted through said articlefrom said second resilient means whereby said contacts effectcompression of said wrapping and as said article is displaced by saidconveyor projections are folded in and heat sealed one at a time andsimultaneously said wrinkles are successively ironed out.

4. In a device for wrapping a generally cylindrical article having flatend faces and including means for forming around said article a tubularwrapping of heat sealable material having ends projecting beyond saidend faces and means for folding said wrapping ends over said article endfaces in the form of inwardly directed overlapping sealed flaps, saidarticle being held stationary as each end flap is being formed, and theresulting wrapping having projections at the base corners of said flapsand having wrinkles at the ends of the tubular Wrapping portion, theimprovement comprising a conveyor for displacing said article along atransverse axis thereof, a heating element movably positionedalong eachside of said conveyor, each including an elongate heat transmittingmember of L-shaped cross sectional form, each having a first legextending over said conveyor andspaced therefrom and a second legextending transversely toward an edge of said conveyor, said conveyorfunctioning to effect rolling contact of lthe ends of said tubularwrapping with said first legs and sweeping contact of said foldedwrapping ends with said second legs, and means resiliently urging saidmembers against said conveyor` and also resiliently urging said memberstoward each other to effect said contacts compressively, whereby as saidarticle is displaced by said conveyor said projections are folded in andheat sealed one at a time and simultaneously said wrinkles aresuccessively ironed out.

OSCAR SANDBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

